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Fate of record tech industry tie-up headed to judge as Microsoft defends $69B Activision deal

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The fate of what could be the priciest merger in tech industry history will soon be in the hands of a federal judge who must decide whether to stop Microsoft from closing its deal to buy video game company Activision Blizzard. Federal antitrust enforcers have sued to block the $69 billion acquisition that they say will harm competition between Microsoft and gaming industry competitors such as Sony and Nintendo. But Microsoft has largely had the upper hand in the 5-day San Francisco federal court hearing that’s scheduled to end Thursday, calling in its CEO Satya Nadella and other executives, including longtime Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, to testify in favor of the merger.The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust laws, has asked U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley to issue an injunction that would temporarily block Microsoft and Activision from closing the deal before the FTC’s in-house judge can review it in an August tr...

Anthony Nesty is a significant presence at US swimming nationals in a sport struggling to diversify

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — In a sport still struggling to diversify, Anthony Nesty is a significant presence on the pool deck at the U.S. national championships.He overcame long odds to win an Olympic gold medal. He worked his way up to become one of America’s top swimming coaches. And he’s Black. “You know you’re a role model,” Nesty told The Association Press. “You have to take that very seriously. Maybe it’s why I work so hard at what I do. I try to be the best Anthony Nesty I can be.”Nesty is the head coach at the University of Florida and oversees one of the top pro teams in the country, a star-studded group that includes Olympic gold medalists Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke. When Ledecky went looking for a new team after graduating from Stanford, she couldn’t help but be impressed by the results Nesty was producing out of Gainesville.Dressel won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics. Finke, a relative unknown on the international scene, swept t...

North Carolina governor signs law clearing up several aspects of impending abortion law

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Last-minute revisions to North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions that take effect this weekend were signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper.The Democratic governor’s decision to act quickly on changes from the Republican-controlled legislature should minimize the immediate results from a pending legal challenge. Still, a federal judge might temporarily block parts of the law that before it goes into effect Saturday.A lawsuit by a physician and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic claims that sections in the restrictions were so vague and confusing that doctors feared unintentionally breaking the law, affecting their ability to care for women seeking abortions. Enactment of the clean-up language appears to make moot arguments about several provisions cited in the lawsuit. That’s according to lawyers for abortion providers, legislative leaders and the state, who spoke before U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles during a Wednesday hearing.Cooper ...

Man wanted on Jan. 6 charges arrested in former President Barack Obama’s Washington neighborhood

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man wanted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was arrested Thursday in the Washington neighborhood where former President Barack Obama lives, law enforcement officials said. Taylor Taranto, 37, was seen by law enforcement a few blocks from the former president’s home, and he fled even though he was chased by U.S. Secret Service agents. He has an open warrant on charges related to the insurrection, two law enforcement officials said. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. They said Taranto also made social media threats against a public figure. Metropolitan Police arrested him on charges of being a fugitive from justice. The explosives team swept Taranto’s vehicle. It wasn’t clear what, exactly, Taranto is accused of doing in the riot, where supporters of then-President Donald Trump smashed windows and beat and blo...

Canadian nurse Sue Johanson, whose TV appearances helped destigmatize sex, is dead at age 93

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Sue Johanson, a nurse who became a popular TV sex expert in Canada and the United States when she was in her 60s, has died, her daughter said.Johanson died in Toronto on Wednesday at age 93 after a long decline, Jane Johanson said.Johanson’s straight talk about sexual practices earned acclaim across Canada and the United States.People delighted in calling in to “The Sunday Night Sex Show” and its American counterpart, “Talk Sex with Sue Johanson,” with questions about obscure acts and fetishes in hopes of shocking the matronly nurse, her daughter said.The real appeal, though, was her answers.“She really cared, earnestly and honestly,” Jane Johanson said. “If people were uncomfortable with something, she tried to put them at ease. If she felt that it was a very sensitive topic that needed to be dealt with carefully and gently, she would sometimes put a call off until the end of the show and talk to people privately.”Johanson wrote three books on sexuality and tou...

Dangerous heat and humidity is smothering much of the South and Midwest

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

As dangerous heat and humidity smothered parts of the South and Midwest on Thursday, local governments and charities worked to protect poor and elderly residents by opening cooling stations and delivering donated air conditioners. In Florida, where heat index levels of up to 112 degrees (44 Celsius) are forecast over the next several days, the Christian Service Center set up an “extreme heat cooling center” in Orlando for homeless people and others who don’t have access to air conditioning. “You or I complain about the heat or have to deal with it as we walk from our car to the grocery store or from our car to the air-conditioned office, but for the people we see here on campus, they wake up to that every day,” Bryan Hampton of the Christian Service Center told WESH-TV.The heat wave has contributed to at least 13 deaths in Texas and one in Louisiana. Forecasters said temperatures could rocket up to 20 degrees above average in some areas as a heat dome that has taxed the Texas ...

Photos: Coors Field covered in hail

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Hail pummeled Coors Field on Thursday as a severe thunderstorm rolled through the Denver metro area.The storm hit late in the afternoon, also bringing a heavy downpour that flooded roadways, including nearby Interstate 25 during rush-hour traffic. Live updates: Tracking severe weather in Denver area Thick hail covered the field and seats. Coors Field workers were filling buckets with the mixture of water and hail that blocked the dugout doors to the home clubhouse. See photos of the hail in the slideshow below.Heavy rain packing high winds and large hail sweeps over Coors Field in Denver on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)Fans seek shelter in the enclave to the gates of Coors Field as heavy rain packing high winds and large hail sweeps over downtown Denver on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)A service worker moves along the main concourse of Coors Field as the baseball diamond is obscured by heavy rain with high winds and lar...

Denver Fire dive team searches submerged car

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- The Denver Fire Department conducted a search of a vehicle that was submerged in flood water just west of Interstate 25. DFD said the car was submerged near West 38th Avenue and Fox Street. Dive crews got in the high-standing water and searched the vehicle and confirmed there was no one trapped inside. The department is warning drivers not to take the chance of driving through standing water.

‘It was like out of rage’: Police arrest vandal seen smashing car and home windows in Hollywood neighborhood

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

Residents of a Hollywood community are concerned over a vandal who has been caught on camera destroying property and breaking into homes. Hollywood Police have identified the serial vandal as 25-year-old Samantha Caesar, who went on a crime spree around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday.Area resident Nicole Cunningham said she was one of those who were targeted,“She must have had one, two, three, four, five and another one on Arthur Street,” she said.Unfortunately, Cunningham said, her car was not spared.“We looked in there, and there was a big coral rock, and somebody was like, getting in the small window, and when we looked in there, there was blood all on my car seat and everything,” she said. “Nothing was touched, nothing was stolen, just smashed. It was like out of rage or something.”Cunningham’s rear-seat window was completely shattered, becoming a major inconvenience for her since she is currently nine months pregnant with twins and is due any d...

Police seek public’s help in search for missing woman from Stoughton

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:18:42 GMT

Police asked for the public’s help Thursday as they continued a search for a 31-year-old woman reported missing earlier this week.Police said Emma Tetewsky was last seen by her family on Sunday evening. She was then reported missing on Monday. A search has continued in recent days since Tetwesky’s disappearance, according to police, involving multiple agencies, a state police helicopter, drones, K9s and boats.Police said Tetewsky, who may also go by the name Fraidl Emett, stands about 5 feet, 3 inches tall, weighing 120 pounds. “She may be wearing a light-colored, possibly blue, long-sleeved shirt, cropped leggings and Birkenstock-style sandals,” police said. Police said Tetewsky “is known to have a history of mental health challenges.”Residents, police said, saw Tetewsky on Monday in the area of Lakewood Drive in Stoughton near Pinewood Pond.An additional possible sighting also happened on Wednesday near the Massapoag Trail in nearby Sharon, according to police.Polic...